OSHA Probes Tesla Texas Gigafactory Death

OSHA investigators are reported to be examining if workplace hazards or safety violations were involved in the death of a worker last week at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas.
It’s not clear whether the individual, who suffered a cardiac arrest, was an employee of Tesla or if they were a contractor, and there is currently no known cause of death, according to news outlet Teslarati.
Separately, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it was seeking more information about an Texas accident-related death involving a Tesla Cybertruck.
The NHTSA said Tesla has issued four recalls for its 2024 Cybertruck.
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A Long Island, New York contractor was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for violating a worker safety standard, which caused the death of an employee, and for making two false statements obstructing OSHA’s subsequent investigation.
An employee died after a December 2018 fall from an improperly secured roof.
Northridge Construction Corporation was sentenced to pay a fine of $100,000 and serve a five-year term of probation, which includes increased safety training for company employees. Northridge pleaded guilty in January.
Northridge supervisor Richard Zagger pleaded guilty last month to related charges and is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 16.
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A recent Minnesota Supreme Court decision that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is compensable under workers’ compensation laws reinforces the need to pay attention to mental health in the workplace, according to SHRM.
In the case, a county social worker reported a work-related injury involving exposure to details of a murder committed by one of her clients.
A compensation judge determined that she had compensable PTSD, which the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals affirmed and the Supreme Court upheld in April.
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